TUNE IN TONIGHT: 'Mayans M.C. and 'The Purge' debut

Tuesday

Sep 4, 2018 at 2:01 AM

Programming is for Tuesday, Sept. 4

Two new series arrive, notable for their hyper-violence and gore. A sequel of sorts to "Sons of Anarchy," the FX series "Mayans M.C." (10 p.m., TV-MA) follows the fortunes of a Mexican-American motorcycle club.

While there seems to be dozens of members of the club, the pilot only has time to develop the character of EZ Reyes (J.D. Pardo). A promising Stanford-bound high school student, his life unraveled. After time in prison, he arrives as a kind of gofer intern for the criminal biker gang.

The first episode features plenty of gunfire and vivid dismemberments, but there's still not enough here to interest viewers. Countless scenes consist of the Mayans striking a defiant pose and revving their engines. You keep waiting for somebody, anybody to do or say something interesting.

Curiously, much of the attendant soundtrack features English-language R&B, as opposed to something that might be popular in a Mexican-American setting. Worse, nobody tells a single joke until 20 minutes into the proceedings.

I want to dislike "Mayans" because it's so violent. But it's much easier to skip it because it's so dull.

• Based on a popular movie franchise, "The Purge" (10 p.m., USA, TV-MA) does a better job developing characters. But just as soon as you start to care about anybody, "The Purge" runs into its rather formulaic premise.

Set in a near future with America under a single-party dictatorship, the title refers to a one-night-a-year ritual where everyone can rob, rape, kill and pillage without arrest or consequence.

Somehow this cathartic blood feast is baked into the dictatorship's hold on the people. A giddy media hype the event like a cross between the Super Bowl and the arrival of a blizzard or hurricane.

We follow a parade of interesting characters, an ex-Marine in search of his sister, lost to some kind of religious suicide cult; two ambitious yuppies willing to make a deal with the devil on "Purge night" and a business executive intent on consummating a big international deal during the mayhem. As the clock ticks down to the Purge, we discover more wrinkles in each character.

The worst thing about "The Purge" is the Purge. Witching hour arrives with hyperstylized weirdos in children's Halloween masks and baseball bats. They look like "Warriors" wannabes. It's easy to feel cheated by a payoff so dumb.

• Netflix begins streaming the 2018 Marvel Comics-based adventure movie "Black Panther," one of the more critically acclaimed and highest-grossing films of the year.

• Directed by Frederick Wiseman, "Ex Libris: The New York Public Library" (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) documents a major cultural institution as it adjusts to the digital age.